Method of manufacturing flexible metal tubing



May 26, 1 925.

' E. JAMES METHOD OF muncrunmq FLEXIBLE METAL TUBING ol iginal Filed ug, 5 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 26, 1925. 1,539,674

- E. JAMES IB'IHOD OF MANUFACTURING FLEXIBLE METAL TUBING Original Fil ed Aug, 5, 1911 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 T 7 (A I x/ l l' I 4- Patented May 26,1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

nnwann mums, or nucmn, OHIO, 'AssmNon we ran YouNGs'rowN 511mm 4m) TUBE COMPANY, or YOUNGSTOWN, 0310,- a CORPORATION or 01110..

v v x mon OF MANUFACTURING FLEXIBLE METAL TUBING.

Original application gum August 5, 1911, sem ll'o.. 842,5 32i Divided and this application m, I

To all whont it may concern-i Be it-known that I, EnwAnn JAMES, a citizen of .the United States, and a resident of E1iclid, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in vMethods of Manufacturing Flexible Metal Tubing, of which the folto the manufacture of flexible tubing, and

has, as its principal object, the provision of e an improved method .for the manufacture of flexible metal tubing of the kind that consists of two wires coiled one within the other.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain preferred mechanism for carrying out the invention, such disclosed means constituting. however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings:- 7

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine for carrying out the invention;

1 Fig. 2 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of a part of the machine,

the parts being shownon an enlarged scale,-

and the section being taken on the indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1

3 is a detail transverse sectional view of a slightly modified form of die detached, the section being taken on the plane indiplane cated 'hiynline 3-3 of Fig. 4, and fragments of; the 'ction rolls being indicated;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal horizontal section through the die taken on' the plane indicated by line 4-4 of Fig. 3; f

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken -tramsversely through one of the wire guides at the lace of oil supply and Figs; 6 and 7am views similar respectively to Figs. 4nd 3 of another modified forllafgfthediath h mg to e' wings,-tema 'ne com a'suitable. frame .1 to which is Jui yaecured adie2which-wil1behereare two' co-operative rolls 4-6 which are as a 'de tube forthe wire which is being Jul 20,1923. Serial No. 052,737;

after in- '-iletail,;a convenientlmode shank 32 of thedie ili tolthe frame,- eRotatably mounted in the-frame :1 are two rolls 3-5 which, by meansof suitable gears, not shown, may be driven by a power shaft 7. Opposite the respective rolls connected to the rolls '3-5.-by gearini, not ShQW11 the rolls 4-6 are carried ina e 8 whic is ivoted on anaxis parallelwithj the power s aft 7 whereby the rolls 4 and-,6. are adapted to be moved towards and from the rolls 3 and 5. Interposed'betweenthe. frame 8 and a hand-wheel 9 is a spring 33 the tension of which is adapted to be regulated by means ofsaid han'dwheel, whereby the rolls 4 and 6 are thrust toward the rolls 3 and 5 with more or les force. The two sets of rolls 3-4'and 5-6 are designed to wires into and through the die 2, and the above described mounting of the rolls 4-6 provides for accommodating the pairs of rolls to difierent sized A tube, consisting for reasons of practical construction of two parts 10-11, extends from the rolls 3-4 to the die 2 and serves fo intothe die. The parts 10-11:of the tube are suitably secured at one end m the die2. while the other ends of-sald parts of attachment being to screw the threaded feed forwardlvtwo wires, and'to force those are closely fitted in between-the rolls 3,-4, h

the 'pasage 16 through the tube being pre'ferably of suchsha in ems-section as to contact with the wlre which it is in several planes only. .The rolls 3-4-are peri erally grooved and the tube. is anvid at its corresponding end with ndges fitlliidng'into these groo' ves; the tube isthus e the feed rolls so closely that the passage of fluid out around the is prevented: '-'At against lateral movement and fits into a point intermediate their agma tube .parte 10-11 are in a .sl ipport 12'having a tube 13 for the on of lubricant; the -tube 13 mav, if desired, be securedtotheframe I'andaerve asasupport for the guidetube. tube 13 is n. 100 mated by anropening 17,wit hthe mi flwgaidawbe. Bymof thewireasitpro struction of the guide tube and its supports;

1213, lubricant may be forced in around towards the (lie, yet the tube gives to the wire effective a support along its length. It will be under- I stood that the shape f the opening 16 may be of any desired form so long as it contacts 7 with the wire and around the wire; formstance, it round wire et provides a space is being used, the'opening may desirably b "triangulanas illustrated. A duplicate guide ner. In Figs.'3 and 4 is shown a die which is used in the machine, a.wire

tube r d support is placed between the and the feed rolls 56.

The die itself may be forinedin any one of several ways, each of which will'efiectively coil the two wiresin the desired inan die is formed interiorly for part of its length with encircling corrugations 18, into which leads an opening 19 from one of the'tubes 10, the corrugations being helically formed.

A Between the last corrugation 18- and the outer end of the die is a cylindrical bore 20 which is formed without corrugations; into the bore 20, near its inner end, leads an opening 21 which may be either a circular opening, or which may be formed by slotting the die near'its end, and into the opening 21 leads one of the two tubes 10. v

When the die, as shown in Fi .2 iand 3,

is o in by the feed rolls 5 6 through the opening 19 and into the first of the corrugations 18,'and as the feed of the wire continues, the wire X is coiled around by the corrugations, and at the same time advances-forwardly inthe die. Simultaneously, a wire 'W, heavier than'the wire X, is forced in by -the rolls 34 through the opening 21 into the bore 20, the inner wall of which is inclined to conform with the helix .of the corrugations 4 18. As the wire ;is beingcoiled the bore 20, the coiled wire X is emerging from the corrugations 18 and advances within the coil .of the wire W as the. latter is formed. As the coiled wire X advances, it threads itself, so to'spealr, within the coil of wire W, and the convolutions of the two wires areforced apart and the convolutions of one wire are alternated with the convolutions of the other. The coil ofwire X, however, "remains of; smaller diameter than the coil of wire W, so that it .lies substantially within the latter. In this form, the two wires emerge from the die as.a' flexibletube composed of two wires coiled .one within ,the

other but\having their convolutions interbetween one another.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate another form" of die. This die has the helical encircling corrugations 18 as in the former die, but instead of the cylindrical bore 20, therei's prov vided a second series of'helicall' formed encircling eorrugations 22 opening 23 from onelof 'the'tubes 10. The

into w 'ich leads an tive to ea corrugations 22 have a greater diameter than thecorrugations 18, and are furthermore more widely spaced apart than are the corrugations 18. In 0 rating the machine with the die shown in igs. 6 and 7, the smaller wire X is coiled by thecorrugations 18 as before, but the larger wire W is positively coiled by the corru ations 22, and ,because of the separation 0 those corrugations the convolutions of the wire W are separated during the formation of the coil. The coiled wire W within the die, therefore,-practically forms a thread which forces apart the convolutions of the wire X as the latter advances into the coil of wire V. As the two coils then progress. together, they emerge from the die as the finished tubing.

Although the dies shown both in Fig. 4

and in Fig. 6, as illustrated. are designed to receive the small wire X further-from the discharge end of the die than the large wire w W. this arrangement may be reversed. In such case, the corrugations of Fig. 4 will be of such diameter as is required for the coil of the outer or larger wire, whereas the cylindrical bore would remain as it is shown. In the die of Fig. 6, the corrugations 22, of what I will call the outer series, would remain as they are shown, but the corrugations 18, of whatI will call the inner series, would reed remain closely spaced, but would be ofrthe is apparent that thatportion of those pot-- tionsof the bore of any of the dies having the corrugations may be made smooth corresponding to the formation of the bore20 of the die seen in Fig. 4, and the wires may be led'in either as shown or through the 280911 angular-1y of the die relac openings other. It may also become desirable to push one ofthe wires as shown by means of vfeed rolls and to pull the other wire by meansof its frictional contact with the wire being pushed. I

In'order to reduce friction and "facilitate ease and speed of operation, the die, whether.

of the form shownin'Fig. 1' or 4, or. Fig.6, or otherwise, is provided wit openings 26 which are longitudinal notches or open-ended slots, as bestseen in Figs. 3 and I 4, proportioned to receive the peripheral portions of friction rolls 27 and 28. The rolls 27 and 28 are preferably spaced, as shown in Fig. 1, the upper roll, 28, being mountedin aframe 29, whi

ch frame I.

. justabilit shown.

mounted to oscillate on a shaft 30 and may be adjusted by the hand-wheel 31 arranged to thrust a spring 34 against the free end different sizes. The several rolls 27 28 are geared to rotate synchronously by intermeshing gears seen in dotted lines in Fig. 1

and driven from a source of power not In the operation of the machine, the wires W and X are forced by means of their respective feed rolls into the die 2 as above explained, and the rolls 27-28, extending into the openings 26 of the die, form rolling surfaces for the wires as they are being coiled. Hence, the friction caused by forcing the wires through the die is eatly reduced. Moreover, the rolls 27-2 8 a so exert a pulling force on the wires and thus further assist the feed rolls which are forcing the wires through the die.

The wires W and X have been illustrated and considered as circular in cross section, but they may be of any desired form. It may be desirable to use a large .wire W circular in cross section, and to use a smaller wire X triangular in cross section. The resent invention is not limited to the manu acture of tubing utilizing crcular wires only, but if the shape of the wires is to be difierent,

' the die may be slightly changed to conform to the shape of the wire- The main features of construction of the dies however, will remain as before.

Neither is the present invention limited to the use of rolls for forcing the wires into Zhe die, but any other suitable means may be used, itbeing only necessary that such means he sufiicient to force the wires intothe die. v Other modes of a plying the rinciple of he em loyed instead of gards the mechanism herein sclosed, rovided the means stated by any of the f0 owing claims or the equivalent of such stated means be em loyed. This application forms a division 0 my Patent No: 1,466,999, dated September 4, 1923. v

I therefore. particularly. point out and distinct] claim as my invention 1: e method of manufacturing. flexible tubing having a plurality of engaging coils of wire, comprising forcing the wires in a tangential direction relative to the formed.

coils and confining substantially the entire riphe of the last formed convolute of each of t e coils during'the formation thereof, and forcing the convolutes of',an outer coil between the convolutes of an inner coil during such formation, substantially as described.

2. The method of manufacturing flexible tubin havin two coils of wire in which the convolutes 'of one coil alternate with the con volutes of the other coil and in which the convolutes of one coil exert pressure on the convolutes of the other coil to form tight joints between the convolutes of the two coils, comprising continuously movin the wires in a longitudinal direction an tanential to the convolutes of the coils, confining substantially the entire periphery of the last formed convolute of each coil during the formation of the coils', and also during the formation of one of the coils redetermining its pitch substantially as escribed. 3.,The method of manufacturing flexible tubinghaving two coils of wire in which the convolutes of one coil alternate with the convolutes of the other coil and in which the convolutes of one coil exert pressure on the convolutes of the other coil to form tight joints between the convolutes of the two coils, continuously moving two coil form' wiresof difl'erent diameters in a longitudinal direction and tangential to the convolutes of the formed colls, confining substantially the entire periphery'of the last formed convolute of each 0011 durin the formation of the tubing to form coils o predetermined diameters, and also during the formation of the coil formed of the wire of greatest diameter predetermining the pitch of said coil so that the convolutes thereof will exert lateral pressure on the convolutes of the other coil substantially as described.

4. The method of manufacturing flexible tubing having two coils of wire in which'the convolutes of one coil alternate with the convolutes of the other coil and in which the convolutes of one. coil exert pressure on'the convolutes of the other coil to form tight joints between the convolutes of the two coils, comprising continuously moving a coil forming wire in a longitudinal direction and tangential to the convolutes of the formed coil, confining-substantiall them-- tire peripheries of a plurali o the last formed convolutes of said 00' -to form an inner coil of predetermined diameter and also controlling the longitudinal movement of a plurality of the last formed convolutes to form convolutes of a predetermined pitch,

feeding a second wire of greater cross-sectional area than the first wire in a longitudinal direction and tangential to the conv'olutes of the formed coil, confining sub stantially the entire ripheries of a lurality of the last forme convolutes of t elastmentioned coil to form an outer coil whose inner diameter is less than the outer diameter of the inner coil, laying theconvolutes of the outer coil between the convolutes of the inner coil, and predeterminin the pitch of the outer coil by controlling dinal movement of a iplurality of the last formed convolutes of t e outer coil to cause longitu the convolutes of the outer coil to spread the of predetermined diameter, and at the same 1 oonvolutes of the inner eoil, substantially as time controlling the longitudinal movement described.. of the coil along the axis during its formm 5. The method of forming wire coils coup tion of the convolutes to form a coil of pne- 5 prising forcing a wire in a longituclinpl ietermi-ned pitch, substantially as described.

rection and tangential to the eonvolutes of testimony he f I hiv her nto S t 15 the coil, during the formation of the @031 y handf' v confining substantially the entire periphery I of the last formed convolute to form a coil EDWARD JAMES. 

